The last time Kentucky played Vanderbilt...

January 25th feels like so long ago — seven basketball games ago, actually. That was the last time (and first of two games this season) Kentucky took on the Vanderbilt Commodores. As you’ve likely tried to forget, the Wildcats dropped that game in Nashville, losing 74-69. It wasn’t anywhere close to Kentucky’s best performance either.

A shot at revenge awaits the ‘Cats though. Mark Pope‘s crew will play host for the rematch as Vanderbilt, which is 1-4 since beating UK, comes to Rupp Arena for a 7:00 p.m. EST tipoff (SEC Network). But if Kentucky is going to avoid a repeat of what happened a few weeks ago, we’ll need to see a completely different version of this team for a full 40 minutes.

Kentucky’s roster will look a bit different tonight compared to the first matchup with Vandy. Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson, who played against the Commodores, will sit out due to injury. Meanwhile, Andrew Carr, who missed his lone game of the season on that ugly night in Nashville, is back and getting healthier every day.

Not having Butler and Robinson this time around will hurt, but not to the point where UK can’t still pull out a win. Although both played in the loss, Butler was clearly not himself. He fouled out after logging six points and six turnovers in 27 minutes. The same shoulder injury that will keep him out of tonight’s game is what forced him to miss the following three games after that loss. Robinson added 11 points on 3-5 shooting from deep.

Turnovers are what cost Kentucky in the first meeting. 17 miscues against the Commodores remains a season-high. TEN of those came in the final 13 minutes of what was arguably the worst first-half performance of the season thus far. Vanderbilt led 41-27 at halftime as the ‘Cats shot 37.9 percent from the field and 4-14 from deep. It was ugly in nearly every facet. UK has averaged just 10.2 turnovers per outing since then.

“We got punked,” Robinson said postgame of Kentucky’s first half against the ‘Dores. No argument there.

But we saw a reinvigorated group of Wildcats out of the locker room. Kentucky’s 14-point deficit was flipped into a seven-point lead with 8:39 to go in the game. A huge 17-point second half from Otega Oweh fueled the comeback. But similar to what happened against Texas just a few days ago, UK coughed up the lead down the stretch as Vanderbilt finished the game on a 23-11 run.

Kentucky even led by one with just a tick under three minutes to play. But from there, the ‘Cats turned the ball over three times and only fired up two three-pointers, which both missed. It was a repeat situation to when UK coughed up a five-point lead with four minutes to go against the Longhrons over the weekend in Austin.

But there were positives to take away from the Vandy loss. It was Trent Noah‘s SEC debut and the spark of what has been an impressive stretch of basketball from the freshman out of Harlan. He’ll be a different, more confident player in round two. It was also the first start of the season for Ansley Almonor, who has been in the starting lineup since and has provided needed relief at the forward position. He’s scored at least 11 points in five of UK’s last seven games, including Vanderbilt. Kentucky also bounced back immediately after losing to the ‘Dores by beating a Top 10 Tennessee team on the road just a few days later.

When tonight’s game tips off, it’ll have been 26 days since Vanderbilt’s win. In this conference, that’s a lifetime ago. UK beat Tennessee twice since then to go 1-0 in series against repeat opponents this season. The ‘Cats will look to make it 2-0 by the end of the night.